Narrow elongate consumer products of the type mentioned above are commonly packaged in lots or groups numbering on the order of from about 50 to 500 individual items. Plastic film "blister" packages and paperboard cartons comprising an open drawer slidably fitted into a rectangularly tubular sleeve are widely used for this purpose; and a major problem with these popular packages resides in their presentation of the items in such an attitude that the critical ends or tips of the items are readily touched by one's fingers in the act of selecting a single item for use, thus destroying the original, sanitary condition of the item.